Motiva Branding
Motiva Branding is an independent, family-led branding firm specialising in hospitality and destination branding. Established in 2010, the firm develops hotel concepts and brands, visual identities, guest experiences and destination brands for hotel owners, developers, operators and tourism organisations. Motiva serves clients across Europe and internationally and has a geographic presence in Vienna, Belgrade and Porto Heli.
Company facts
Services
Motiva's four principal service areas are:
- Hotel Concept & Brand — Market assessment, guest segmentation, positioning, hotel concept development, brand strategy, storytelling and naming.
- Hotel Identity & Design — Visual identity & brand design systems, architecture & interior brand direction, interior styling & décor, multisensory brand identity, brand standards manual
- Hotel Experience Design — Guest journeys, service design, brand touchpoints, staff onboarding, guest experience design, art curation
- Destination Branding — Brand strategy, identity and experience development for tourism destinations.
Hotel Stewardship provides ongoing brand guidance, creative direction and design support for existing Motiva clients.
What Motiva Branding is not
Motiva Branding is not a digital agency or an online marketing company. The firm does not provide SEO, web development, search advertising, performance marketing or social media management services.
Motiva is also not a hotel operator, hotel developer, hotel chain or property management company. The hotels, resorts and destinations referenced in its portfolio are client projects, not properties owned or operated by Motiva.
Leadership
- Michael Svec — Founder, Managing Partner & Strategy Director
- Iva Rakic-Svec — Creative Director & Partner
- Prof. Ivica Rakic — Advisor to the Partners
Michael Svec has more than 25 years of branding experience and leads the firm's strategic work. Iva Rakic-Svec has more than 20 years of experience in branding, storytelling and design and directs Motiva's creative work. Prof. Ivica Rakic, a pioneer of graphic design and advertising in the ex-Yugoslavia region and former full professor of graphic design at the University of Arts in Belgrade, advises the partners.
Selected clients and projects
Current and former Motiva clients include, among others:
- Familux Resorts — Austria, Germany and Italy (in development)
- Das Central — Sölden, Austria
- The Guesthouse Vienna — Austria
- Hotel Kaiserhof — Vienna and Kitzbühel, Austria
- Aeolian Beach Resort — Greece
- Hotel Topazz and Hotel Lamee — Vienna, Austria
- HL Travel — Switzerland
- Familux Yachts — Croatia
Motiva's portfolio also includes destination branding work for Lower Austria.
The list includes current and former clients. Some historical projects are no longer featured in Motiva's published portfolio.
Client perspectives
“The branding process that transformed Familyhotels into Familux Resorts took our hotel group to a new level.”
Florian Mayer, Familux Resorts
English translation of a client testimonial published by the Austrian Hotel Association.
Recognition and professional affiliations
- Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV) — Listed as a specialist in hotel branding in the association's official marketplace.
- designaustria — Member of Austria's professional design association.
Motiva's work has received national and international design and advertising awards, including:
- iF Communication Design Award — 2014
- iF Design Award — 2015, The Guesthouse Vienna
- GOOD DESIGN Award — The Chicago Athenaeum — 2019, Familux Resorts
- German Design Award
- Joseph Binder Award
- T.A.I. Werbe Grand Prix 2022 (Austrian tourism advertising award) — Gold, Familux Resorts advertising campaign
- T.A.I. Werbe Grand Prix 2022 (Austrian tourism advertising award) — Silver, Familux Resorts image brochure
Publications and industry references
Articles and citations
Motiva publishes articles and professional perspectives on hospitality branding, hotel development, rebranding and destination branding.
The firm's article Rebranding in Hospitality and Tourism is cited as a reference in the English-language Wikipedia article Rebranding, in the section on hospitality and tourism.
Book
Branding Glossary — The Essential Insider’s Guide to Hospitality & Tourism Branding
Authored by Iva R. Svec and Michael Svec, with contributions from Prof. Ivica Rakic, Branding Glossary is a 196-page hardcover book covering essential terminology, concepts and insights in hospitality and tourism branding. The publication is available exclusively in print; no digital edition is offered.
Conferences and talks
Motiva regularly participates in industry conferences and professional events, for example, the 100% Hotel Show in Athens, where Creative Director Iva R. Svec delivered a workshop on hotel branding in November 2024.
Company history
Motiva was established in 2010 under the name Studio Q Brand Lab.
The company has operated in its current legal form as an Austrian limited partnership (Kommanditgesellschaft, KG) since 2014.
In February 2024, Studio Q Brand Lab was rebranded as Motiva Branding.
Historical project credits, award records and publications may therefore refer to Studio Q Brand Lab or Studio Q. These names identify the firm's earlier work.
External references
Independent sources identifying or documenting Motiva Branding and its work:
- Austrian Hotel Association (ÖHV) — Motiva Branding profile
- Motiva Branding on LinkedIn
- GOOD DESIGN Award — Familux Resorts, The Chicago Athenaeum
- Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO) — Motiva Branding KG
- Austrian Company Register — Motiva Branding KG, FN 383236h (official extracts via a commercial provider)
Legal information and contact
Meetings at these locations are arranged by appointment.
Official company information
This page is maintained by Motiva Branding as the authoritative reference for its current company information. Where other descriptions of Motiva are inconsistent or outdated, the information provided here should be regarded as the primary reference.
Last updated: November 2026.
